Wednesday, July 21, 2010

For a couple of years, I've had a piece of turquoise blue crinkle cotton sitting in my fabric stash. I never quite knew what to do with it. It was purchased because I liked the color and it was on sale... an irresistible combination. I kept an eye out for a suitable pattern, but never found the right thing. Until a couple of weeks ago, when I found this...

I don’t generally wear this style of skirt, and I’ve certainly never made one, but it suited the fabric so perfectly that I decided to try it out. I’m used to straighter styles, so I was a little surprised when I saw that it called for five(!!!) yards of fabric. I wasn’t sure I had that much, but my "helper" assisted in determining that there was, indeed, enough for the skirt.

On to the cutting & assembly...

Not a difficult thing to put together, but certainly a lot more pieces than I normally use for a skirt. It is also taking a lot more thread (stay stitching, plus double-stitched seams, plus edge finishing). I ran out last night, about halfway into the project. Oops.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I've nearly finished NL 6815. It just needs buttons and a hem. I probably have suitable buttons in my stash, but I'd like to find something new. So, it won't be totally finished until I can get to a fabric store, probably sometime next week. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this top has turned out. If I ever do it again, there will no doubt be a few tweaks here & there, starting with the interfacing that I used. It was just a hair too stiff for the fabric and made attaching the collar and facing a real pain in the butt. The pattern calls for pockets, which I have cut out but have not attached. I'm not sure I want to use them. I really liked the lines of the top when I tried it on, and am not sure that I want to break it up with pockets. I'm also not sure that I need the extra bulk that the pockets would add to the bust. We'll see how it looks once it's hemmed & buttoned.

Friday, July 16, 2010

The painting and sewing madness continues. At 7 a.m. (really early for me), I rolled out of bed and finished the last of the painting. Now all I have to do is change the rest of the light switches and sockets, and put the two big light fixtures back on the wall. That's where it becomes a little more complicated, requiring another trip to Lowe's to fix a small wiring boo-boo.

The current sewing project is NL 6815. I'm working on the view D top. I'm not sure that it's going to be a particularly flattering style on me, so I'm using some very inexpensive fabric that I picked up at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago. So far, I'm surprised at how much I like the fabric for this top. The only problem is that it ravels quite a bit, so I'm topstitching most of the seams and edge-finishing everything else. I didn't bother to do an FBA on this one, though I'm wondering if I will regret that choice later.

Here's the WIP on Wilma. I need to "fix" her so that the bust is more accurate. Dress forms don't really account for things like cup size, so while it is possible to get the correct measurements, it's not quite the same. It's much better if Wilma has a bra with plenty of extra padding. Otherwise, everything looks like this... boxy, floppy, and generally shapeless. ;)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

I'm beginning to think that I've started a few too many projects, and it is starting to show. Badly.

My master bathroom looks like a disaster area, thanks to a painting project. I can't just put paint on the walls like a normal person. Oh no... I have to paint all of the trim on the windows, doors and baseboards. Then I have to become dissatisfied with the beige switchplates. You can't have white switchplates with beige outlets & switches, so this leads to me getting sidetracked with an electrical project. And don't get me started on the light fixtures... too ornate to paint around easily, so I have to take all of them down (more fun with electricity!).

My dining room has been converted into Sewing Central. At the moment, it looks like a fabric store exploded in there. I finished the New Look top in time to immediately cut out another, and there are a few more waiting to be cut & sewed.

Since we aren't using the dining room for actual dining, we've been eating in the breakfast nook. But my sewing machine has been living there, since that is where I like to do my sewing. The house is big enough that I could have a dedicated sewing/craft room, but my favorite spots for doing this sort of work are still the dining room & kitchen. Go figure. And of course, the kitchen has been used for soapmaking. Batch after batch after batch of the stuff.

You might not believe it, but I really do cook. A lot. So when it is time to eat, my current sewing project and soapmaking needs to be relocated to the laundry room & sunroom.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

I think most of us have a collection of FUFOs-- projects where the stitching is completed, but for one reason or another, aren't truly finished and ready for display. I also think that my FUFO pile is bigger than most. A lot of projects are there because they need to be framed. I have a real backlog of those kinds of items. But I also have lots of smalls awaiting assembly. I'm on very good terms with my sewing machine, so why can't I seem to finish any of my FUFOs?

Having no good excuse for continuing to ignore a growing FUFO pile, I decided that rather than starting yet another small, I would finally put together some of the ones I've already stitched. I now have a few new Christmas ornaments and some LHN designs finished into small pillows (and now I need to make a basket to display them LOL). The pillows were inspired by some finishes that BeckySC posted on her blog.

All of these projects were completed with fabric that I already had in my stash. So really, there was no excuse for waiting so long to assemble them. I still have lots more to do, but at least the collection has been reduced by six. :)